thomson



, V w. R. THOMSON. I Furnace for Heating Wrought Iron Wheels for Forging.

No. 12,800. r v Patented May}, 1855;

proved furnace; verse sldeof Fig.1,

jecting end A, it is secured by l on each side, which areattached to the iron plates (1, upon whichthe projection A rests,

for other similar purposes;

. lines wILnIAM R. THoMsoN, F CLEVELAND, on o.

emanates; l I-IEAT ING wRoueH -moiv WHEELS non FORGING.

7 Specification or Tietters ratt N6. 12,800, dated Ma 1, 1855. i

i Beit known that I,W-. R'. T oMsoN, of Cleveland, in the county of. Cuyahoga and State ofgOhio, have invented a newand use ful Improvement in Furnaces for Heating and Welding I Wrought -,Iron I Railroad- Wheels {and for wotherj Similar Purposes; and I dohereby declare that, the following is a fulljandfexact description of the com struction and. operation of the same, refe1- ence beinghad to the accompanying drawings' and to the 'letters; of reference marked thereon. c i c c The nature of invention consists in the c 1 peculiar arrangement. of a double "furnace,

by which the sections of which the wheel is i composed, are weldedtogether at the butts, f forming the hub in such a manner thatthe \heat,;fro-ni the furnace passes around and i throughfthe :center 5 of the hub, fromQabove ,Qbelow; alternately, as. may be required, without movingthe]; wheel during the proce shof heati Thetifdrna'ce may be used Eig.:;3,.anend elevation; Fig. 4-, a view ofthe opposite end of. Fig.

Figlf 5, a vertical section" in the direction of theiflines a inf Figs. 3 ,4 and 7 Fig! ahorizontal section in, the direction'of the c w," in Figs. Q andfQIJand Fig. 7,a

Like letters rerf to like "parts in the several views. c P The furnace, 1k,may be'constructed size, that the" nature oftthe-case may require, and is builtof firebrick or other suitablematerial, and sheathedon the sidesand ends with" iron ;plates-secured nuts, or their equivalents.

bolts and For the purpose of supporting the probo-lts B B,

and to a framework above, so as to sustain the end A by raid of the bolts attached to the plate a.

O Care the fuel doors to the upper and lower furnaces D D as seen inFig. 5, which mare provided with grates in. the ordinary way. p i a a a F F are thedampersof theflues G G connecting the chimney with the furnaces at G G, seen in Figs. 5 and 6.

H H Figs. 4 and 5, are the ash pit doors. The wind pipe I enterst-he ash pits H H' as seen in Fig. 5, forthe purpose of blowing the respective furnaces D D above. The blast for the purpose may be obtained by any of the ordinary means. The wind pipe I, is provided with valves having handles on the outside, as shownat J J, for the purpose of cutting off the blast, and blowing either of the furnaces" separately, as may be re quired. I a

The levers K K Fig. 2, are connected by arod to the dampers F F by which they are opened and closed. T helwheel is first forged in sections according to the number of spokes, the butts of which have curved or I angular sides as seen at L L, Fig. 8, so as to prevent any one sectlon from moving out of place when being weldedto-gether, which is the case when the sides are straight; the fur nace, however, may be used in welding wrought iron hubs, of any form of conspokes f, asseen in Fig. 7, by which means the sections are firmly held together inside of the clamp during the process of being welded, and swaged or hammered into form. The sections being thus secured by the clampjand screws so as to form the wheel, it is placed so that the hub P, will hebetween the norrels R R of the furnace,

as seen in Figs. 1 and 5. In this position the wheels are supported, and the hub temporarily surrounded'with fire brick or other suitable material, as represented at S S Fig. 5, for the purpose of confining the heat to the hub; in this position the wheel remains until suflicientlyheated or welded, when it is re inovedfor the purpose of swaging or hammering the heated hub together, into shape.

, The heat from each furnace is alternately directed to the hub above, and below, and while the hub is being heated, the spokes are protected by the material which surrounds the hub, so that they are not burnt, to which they are-liable in the ordinary process of heating or welding the hub.

For the purpose of giving draft to the fires when first made in the furnaces, the dampers F F are opened, and afterward closed as may be required. By opening the damper F, and closing the damper F, and shutting ofi the blast from the furnace D, and by closing the valve J, and opening the valve J, the furnace D will then receive the blast, and the fire will pass from the furnace D, to the underside of the hub P, and surround it upon all sides as it ascends to the upper furnace and passes out through the flue G, to the chimney.

When the hub is sufficiently heated on the underside, the direction of heat to the hub is reversed by closing the damper F, and opening the damper F, and by shutting off the blast from the furnace D, and opening the valve J, so as to blow the furnace D; by this means the fire from the furnace D is stopped, and the fire from the furnace D, passes to the top of the hub, and surrounds it on all sides as it descends to the furnace D, and passes out through the flue G to the chimney. The degree of heat or draft, to the furnaces may be controlled by the dampers F F, and valves in the wind pipe I, and at the same time the fire from either of the furnaces D, or 0, may be alternately directed to the upper and lower side of the hub, until it has acquired the necessary degree of heat.

As the blast is cut off from one furnace, while the other is being blown, the fires do not interfere with each other; the circuit or draft being cut ofi from one furnace, the fire remains at rest while the other furnace is in action, as before described.

The usual mode of welding or heating wrought iron rail-road wheels, is by an ordinary forge fire, and only one side of the hub at a time is heated and welded together, as follows; as soon as the hub is sufficiently heated on one side, it is removed to the an vil, and a washer or ring which has been heated in another forge, is welded to the end of the hub, as the sections or butts comprising the hub, are being hammered together by hand. Both sides of the hub are treated in this manner, separately, consequently while one end of the hub is at a welding heat, the other is not, thereby the hub is imperfectly welded, and is unsound, and the spokes liable to be burnt. These difiiculties do not occur with my improvement as the hub is not treated and hammered together one side at a time, but on both sides and entirely through by the furnaces before it is swaged or hammered together.

The wheel is not moved in the furnace until the hub is at a welding heat. Then it is compressed, swaged and welded together on all sides, by the actions of dies correspending to the shape of the hub and spokes, which I have described in a previous application'; or it may be done by any of the ordinary means in use for such purpose. The fire which is at rest may be replenished with fuel, so that when it is again in action, the fire will be clear as possible in heating the metal, hub, or other article.

T represents the outside walls of the furnace, and T the inside wall between the upper and lower fire places, which are built in with the outside walls.

V V, are slag holes to draw off the slag which may accumulate from the fires. The ridge W, is for the purpose of preventing the slag from running down the nozzle upon the hub or other article which is being heated. The slag may be drawn off through the slag hole V, as fast as it forms inside of the ridge.

What I claim, as my improvement, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is,

The arrangement of the furnace A, with double fire places or chambers D D, furnished with fiues G G, and dampers F F, in combination with the wind pipe I, and values J J, for the purpose of alternately heating both sides of the hubs of wrought iron wheels, or other articles between the nozzles h h in the manner herein specified.

WILLIAM R. THOMSON.

Witnesses:

W. W. BURRIDGE, ERASTUS SMITH. 

